i am. no not exclusive interview the syrian president says he won't step down and warns foreign intervention will spark a global disaster. the protests in athens lead to unprecedented violence as parliament approves a new set of cards in a bid to keep greece solvent and in the euro zone. the president calls on china's new leaders to turn the country into a major naval forces beijing begins a once in a decade communist power transfer. international news and comment live from our new center here in moscow this is r.t.

we've got exclusive access to the syrian president who continues to govern from damascus in defiance of foreign calls to step down bush on assad condemning those calls and warned against outside intervention in syria my colleague he said now we spoke to ortiz sophie shevardnadze who interviewed the embattled leader in his capitol. hill had a chance to speak about fifteen minutes before the interview very educated very down to and definitely not. contrary to what people like people praise him in the media very well informed he feels like i think that this whole thing that's happening is like a cancer that either he has to beat or he has to die of it but there is no other way out when what we're talking about western leaders telling him to step down i mean it kind of sounds ridiculous because he really has nowhere to go like when he were to step down where would he go and we asked in that interview you can see

there's a certain to. be answered interview so if you speak to him about the push for foreign intervention. prideful booth and. if it's happened it's going. to be more than the whole world came before because if you have a problem in syria and you got this last stronghold of secularism and stability in the region and coexistence you know it's it will have a domain or fate that affect the world from the atlantic to the pacific and you know the implication all but it all but i don't thing. with him going. to god but you do so nobody can peer what's next. did you feel like you were sitting in speaking to a man who was losing power losing control of his country i think he's very well aware that he definitely isn't in a position in which he was like two years ago or a year and a half ago or he's not crazy understand like he's still going about his business i

think it's more about the fact that he knows that he has no choice he has made a choice of having no choice and. he has no other way than to fight till the end and i believe it's not about staying in power for him and i do believe it's not about. his family because his kids still go to public school in damascus and his wife is still there and he told me you know i'm a younger man i love sports i love life i could have just picked up and left lead for example you know this is no fee for example and there's this thing that really marked me to. really how much more complicated situation inside syria from what we see in the media because i talk to people yes the country is divided and even the people who didn't like us before this conflict started are now so scared that fundamentalists will come to power fundamentalists who are fighting on the side of the free syrian army and syrian people are not about that i mean this is. the only secular are that had a lot of different religious groups always living in peace with each other whether

it's sunni or shia a wired to or all the way or the christians so they're really scared if the army will fall apart and you know you'd have to be sixty response to them and asking them to basically be just like them basically they're targeting also famous people who don't want fundamental fundamentalists in power so it's not just about assad i think people feel like whether he goes or stays. it's only can get worse if it goes because it will get to terror attacks will continue and the fundamentalists will come to power so they're very scared of that every day that we were there were there for three and a half days we had two to three terrorist attacks for example i dare to go into town and walk around the market talk to people. and it was around two o'clock in the afternoon so you could see all this elementary school kids that flood it those little streets where the market is and they were just so beautiful with their like taking pictures of them and then we went home and it turns out right at that moment

when i was taking photos of those kids. maybe ten minutes away from where i was taking pictures an explosion went on and eleven kids just like that. so when you walk in the streets it doesn't really phase you that you could be targeted or die in a terrorist attack any time because that really. puts you in a state of cognitive dissonance because someone has a life goes on because people really have no choice i mean they have nowhere to go no one gives them business even if they wanted to go they couldn't so it's business as usual i mean i would hear bombing more shelling. throughout the day and night and i was very scared because i'm not used to the sound you know the sound but then you know we had this beautiful bride and groom in the hallway of our hotel having their wedding as the mortar shells were going on.

in our friday through sunday on our to our t. dot com meanwhile first clashes have reportedly erupted in northern syria just across its border with turkey and crews placing its forces on a higher state of alert and now wants to deploy surface to air missiles from its nato allies admitted new wave of calls for a no fly zone over syria the escalation of border tension comes as the political leaders of the syrian opposition forged a new cabinet which they came to present as a government in waiting but the syrian national council met in fall from the syrian front lines with dozens of people were reportedly killed on the rebel factions remain splits with some refusing to recognize the authority of the s.n.c. release expert german soldiers damascus is being provoked from abroad. that turkey wants to do more it's in that ten different countries. and therefore we have negotiations it's nice to touch it missiles along the east of the border now.

upgrading and installation of the situation music some sense of the answer in coalition and that's includes britain france turkey qatar and saudi arabia if not the strait. of destroying the syrian government what are the costs of its dismissed ignored sidestepped place undermined. to a negotiation and once displaced as it can effectively would be imposed. in syria and then the syrians would. have. a new package of billions of euros in cuts the measures squeeze through the greek parliament to be met by protests outside frustration over the disintegrating economy led to street battles between four demonstrators and police. reports from athens. well the greek people of continue to vent their anger against what they see

. is being placed upon them by the government and state evening here in athens we saw those tensions boil over into a nother round of violence a crowd of around one hundred thousand people had gathered here it's just in front of the building and. very quickly we saw police and protesters fights running battles through the square itself in the streets surrounding it. thrown rocks throwing the police responding with flash bang grenades and of course the tear gas it's become so synonymous with the violent demonstrations and violent clashes we've seen in athens in recent times now over one hundred just over one hundred people were detained by police the majority of those were released straightaway five people being arrested involved in last night's violence and also hearing that there were some injuries on both sides both the protesters and to the police the

reason that this took place on wednesday evening was because the pall of and just behind me was voting on the latest round of austerity measures now that it is being written into greek lloyd by the slimmest of majorities one hundred fifty three m.p.'s voting yes one hundred twenty eight saying no eighteen stanchions now what that means for the greek people is they will have to point five billion euros worth of savings forced upon them now the savings will take before raising the retirement age going to see some people seeing as much as fifty percent cut from their pensions they'll also be cut to wages both in the public sector and the minimum wage as well being cuts and it's also going to be new laws that will make it easier for employers to fire them for. all of this of course causing great anger in greece

they say that this is being dictated to them because this thirteen point five billion euros worth of savings was demanded of greece by its three main creditors the so-called troika and the reason they demanded that the reason it greece is push this through is because if they didn't they were told they wouldn't get the next round of the bailout money now if greece doesn't get that money well essentially it's out of the eurozone and it faces an incredibly painful default. for more let's now join us from his his doctoral candidate at the london school of economics a member of the occupy london collective he's in athens now this is greece is for austerity package in three years is that it now out of trouble. well it's not just the four stair of the packet it's also the full time that we hear at least back it is going to be the last one. there is like in every preceding single previous strummer is a huge problem the problem is at least back it is a moving into the entirely different entirely wrong direction and there is

a definition of insanity according to it intellect is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is what's happening right now. after which the country's g.d.p. is going to go but that actually the country's national debt is going to go up from one hundred seventy five percent to one hundred ninety two ninety percent so of course of course this is not over of course not on the only way in which we're going to stop this. is people actually stop them but the prime minister as he said that many of the measures imposed are fair and long overdue is me basically admitting that you greeks have had it pretty good in the past so it is payback time now. so much of course would say that because he's desperate to cling to power and he also he's also using a very old and very well tested. way of government which is divide and rule is trying to turn one class against the other is the same person he had as part of the political elite he had an access access to the list of two thousand possible over

two thousand possible tax evaders and he did nothing with his government is the same government that published photographs even of migrant sex workers to kind of justify rule of three or the same government of objects photos and person of the two of the people who were just demonstrating on the streets without any charges even brought against them. the last person one of the last people who can talk about financial justice and what about that issue of uncollected taxes those high profile names linked to tax evasion why isn't it that the government hasn't done something about it after all recover no sort of funds could actually help the national debt of course it could but it takes you i mean it's a fundamental question. this government and this trip the troika interest are they serving this is one of the most kind of times of all examples and proof that this government is not that of the people and it's never to work in their favor if they want to do as you say me could've used that list to to regain some of their debt

and instead of just bringing down the minimum wage as you cross on the door of the senate or the bringing down minimum wage to a community and just of the five hundred you're a month and unemployment is going to go up i mean the figures are absolutely staggering unemployment is already up from eighteen point four percent in the last in august last year two thousand and eleven it's gone up to twenty five points or or twenty five percent this year it's projected to go to the thirty five percent by this time next year this is leading to social chaos in your country what about the political chaos that could occur after all the parliament managed barely to hold itself together to get these cuts through do you think it is in danger of collapsing this coalition of course absolutely i think it's just a matter of time and for many people who sooner the better sooner the better but what happens after that you have a country that has no government what who should replace it. well for many many people the solution is coming from

a very much from the grassroots it's not about who's actually in parliament it's already been very much discredited i mean let's not forget of this a government that includes its members of some. straight talk and that is people who are against fundamentally democracy so it's already become a force of itself in many ways and many of us have been starting to look away from the government and away from parliamentary democracy and into democrats in the grassroots in our everyday lives to restructure our lives from from below are you supporting the strike to the moment of course absolutely they do more damage to the economy at the moment the worst time isn't it for everybody to go on strike this is this is a these are strikes against a policy that's a number one. destroyer of the economy it's like it's very similar to the government and the media kind of the argument saying you know we shouldn't strike because we're destroying the image of the country abroad and this is the same government as a police force as you might you must already know has already discredited hugely questions of human rights and democracy in greece at the moment so again this kind

of argument is coming from the people who shoot speaking at least about destroying the economy when you have it for five you said this before first there is that it's in a very consistent attempt to bring the economy and to bring an entire country to meet . the then about greece just getting out of the eurozone altogether dropping the euro is is that the answer. it's certainly part of the answer it's part of the answer in that people and the people in this country have to become more self-sufficient and they have to stop depending on the supranational organizations kind of dictating rules for mobile i do you know you just can't drop your original currency out of thin air immediately i mean the ramifications of greece leaving the e.u. surely that will be. for the greek people the pursuing these austerity measures. maybe in there we're talking about different time perspectives in the in the long in the short term that might be. as you already know gracie exonerates it's not

exactly at peace for a stupid peaceful city at the moment is not as if these are starting measures are actually doing anything to crane and kind of start really feel prosperity turn to short term of course is going to get if you keep control just under the long term and the medium term of course is going to be much further autonomy something that people are striving for on the should i do this for others thank you very much indeed for your thoughts joining us live there and athens thank you. when just a few minutes here on r.t. a facelift for an economic powerhouse china's communist party begins a week no change of leadership amid calls to root out corruption and make the state a major force on the high seas.

in the glow of russia's north from away from civilization and history our helicopter treats from the nearest village. they stole one family have been living here for a long time in tents made of rain d.s. canes. bludgeon runs in a signal and then it's they also grew up in the but left it at the age of six and never returned they now live in the city in apartment building but still remember their regions was. can i was not in here is

a dancing teacher. was a and still his dancing as he tells the stories about his motherland. clause in a report in there has a one thousand strong reindeer herd when the enemy only saw the light can and most around brood is gathered turns and moved to another posture they travel hundreds of kilometers in winter women and children for them. the two families have less of a chance to come across each other they belong to different worlds even though there is sometimes a similar. good

laboratory was able to build the world's most sophisticated robot which fortunately doesn't take. anything tim's mission to teach creation and why it should care about humans. this is why you should care only. i mean so the only city in europe i'm the host of the twenty fourteen winter olympics. thank you. thank you. so.

the news continues now a major transfer of power has begun in china the country set to appoint his new top leaders next week as part of the communist party congress which is now under way president has called on the nation to fight corruption improve its military and keep the economy growing beijing based journalist henry morton reports. president hu jintao begins to hand over the reins of power to the next generation of chinese leaders vice president xi jinping widely expected to become the next head of states now president hu he's going to stand down as general secretary at the end of this week paving the way as i say for she to take over as general secretary and then as head of states in march two thousand and thirteen reform has been a buzzword around this congress has been mentioned a lot in state media in the build up so you this week experts and analysts and

analysts saying that china if it wants to continue its economic growth its economic engine it really needs to start implementing long stalled reforms you speak to people on the streets they're extremely concerned about the economy as well and people around the world generally will also be watching what the new leadership is doing china of course a growing economic power is now the second biggest economy in the world and also turning into something more of the world's superpower. reports. lighting the flame on the international stage building to new heights on this world . and soaring beyond its limits whether it's outer space the arctic outer continental shelf or on your local store shelves china is making its ambitions known let's see this is made in china. made in china china where cheap economic goods have translated into massive profits for china as well

as criticism you know this comes amid growing concern that china is using its economic clout for political leverage. different. china is a very promising country. if you're. trying trying less than five the i.m.f. says china could surpass the us economically in real terms by twenty sixteen it may not help the countless. chinese who live in poverty but it sure makes rivals nervous china's economic clout has grown it is now the second largest economy in the world it's the second largest manufacturing exporter in the rimini the trainees currency is playing an increasingly important role in the world economy so there is a shift in relative economic might in the world that might has been threatened by the economic slowdown and it will be up to china's new leaders to try to reverse the trend for now they seem to be getting their way china is inching

into europe to snap up ailing businesses this french vineyard is just one of the casualties. but that these people they come here in the buy learn just like to buy a castle or jewelry on iran u.s. sanctions against oil trading with the islamic republic don't apply when you're america's largest banker. in africa china is using cash to buy clout beating western rivals in the race to exploit the continent's vast resources in its efforts to buy influence through investments have been met with an intense public backlash and countries like pakistan and building infrastructure instead of military bases has made china the preferred superpower among locals. born into thier ok. other countries but is that like america. you know that like america. their data were. still it has been abandoned its military the country's new leaders

are expected to continue to pour billions into its defense budget the second largest in the world this may worry pentagon planners and beijing's asian neighbors but so far china's economic might has proven more powerful than the sword there are two nations which are fighting in the words what is america what is china so america is using which is water and there is a lot of losses and china is using up these. and civilized the it is no last and if the strategy is working why change chinese leaders understand the even portions of soft power. and yet understand stat is economic development. to some extent and has made it. to be studied if not to be followed complete for now growing red dragon means that china's version of a new world order is here just. to seek out our moscow. well for more on

this i'm joined from denmark by international affairs expert and political advisor christoph lehman so the growing gap between rich and poor corruption we're seeing expanding cities there and of course the struggling countryside how will the new leaders tackle these challenges. for the next week there's room. for.

very. very. soon and. the. next big. christophe it's quite difficult to hear you at the moment you haven't got a brilliant quality let's just try again and if it's not to get it we'll try to get back to you a little bit later what you did was cute. just a is china is widely predicted to become the world's largest economy watch will the world look like van. to be different than the. chinese economy. necessarily you know. the list and you're not it's. not. going to be.

the united states. we'll leave it there for the moment no doubt the production team will get back to see if we can get a slightly better sounding but in the meantime thank you very much for your thoughts on this christopher lehman joining us live there from denmark. i spoke to him a little he's the author of. oil wars he says the new chinese leadership will have some serious challenges ahead. the easy years of the chinese economic miracle are behind them and what i've seen in my recent visits to try and over the last three or four years is a great sense of question. about western especially american economic model. is for going forward in china now the corruption that's a huge issue is population this is a pervasive sense among young people that the party leadership is not. in touch

with aspirations of the younger generation or the people generally and this is a question of the very legitimacy of the party and that i think if we challenge that they're going to have to address you're going to have to have a much more convincing reestablishment of legitimacy that the party is actually leading the country with the best interests in mind and not simply interests of their own families and in their pockets and that's a difficult task. turning from domestic and that is let's talk about foreign policy now there are territorial disputes in east china in the south china sea with of course the us getting involved in that is to how do you think relations will develop between beijing and washington and there is talk of perhaps a military clash being likely is that really possible. well the chinese are very concerned about these so-called obama pivot the asian pivot which is really trying to pivot obama announced earlier this year and what is happening is a u.s.

military deployment in australia in japan and. in south korea encircling china's. great pathway from from the persian gulf to get its energy supplies its energy resources so the chinese see this is very much a threat when obama in the presidential debate referred to china as an adversary that did not fall on deaf ears in beijing so they have a what they see is a real security challenge. that. washington whether. obama and the next four years sharply are not clear but certainly the tensions are very real between washington and china and it's like a noose that the chinese feel is tightening around their neck so it's a very provocative kind of game that's going on between japan and australia in the .